Streetwise

Sisyphus, in Context

The recent spate of bad economic news from places including Germany, Japan, and China may not be as dire as it seems.

It has been more than five years since the financial crisis ended, but the task of repairing the global economy resembles Sisyphus pushing that boulder up the hill.

Last week, we learned that Germany's economy had shrunk for the first time since 2012; that during the second quarter, Japan's gross domestic product slid the most since the Fukushima disaster in 2011; and that China's banks and other lenders had abruptly turned off the...